Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I was Forced to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the BookishThis week I'm talking about my top ten books that I was forced to read.1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J. K. RowlingMy Mom actually literally made me read this book when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I was so against it. I thought a book about an 11 year old Wizard would be SO dumb. She was adamant that I read it. I think there might have actually been a bribe involved. When I got about 50 pages in and wanted to stop reading it, she wouldn't let me. I'm super thankful today that she forced me to read it because I became absolutely obsessed with the series after I finished the first book. Harry Potter was the series that made me really aware of the fact that I LOVE reading and I don't think my life would be the same today if I hadn't been forced to read it.2. The Giver by Lois LowryI was forced to read this one in middle (maybe late elementary school? idr) school for a literature class and it is probably the only book I really remember reading from when I was younger because it was so good. I always remembered it as being my favorite.3. The Realm of Possibility by David LevithanIn college when I was just deciding what I was going to major in I took a young adult literature class at the JC. I am so glad that I took this class because it really introduced me to the genre that went on to become such a huge part of my life. This was one of the assigned readings for the class and I seriously adored it. 4. City of Bones by Cassandra ClareI wasn't really forced to read this book per say but I was pretty against reading it because I always saw it at the book store and I thought the cover looked like a young adult version of those cheesy romance novel covers. But I was just becoming a pretty big YA paranormal reader and I ALWAYS saw this book at the bookstore! Finally I gave in and bought it and man am I glad I did. This book was the first book that really got me into the genre that is now probably my favorite. Plus Cassandra Clare is amazing and her shadowhunter novels are probably my favorite YA paranormal books.5. Twilight by Stephanie MeyerA friend of mine told me about this book in 2008 and my reaction was something along the lines of "who reads vampire books??" Little did I know. My friend pretty much forced me to read it and this is another big one that my life will never be the same after reading it. I hadn't been much of a reader for a long time because I always had a hard time finding books that I really liked and Twilight re-introduced me to the world of Young Adult lit. I finally started loving reading again and eventually even decided to major in literature because of it.6. The Truth About Forever by Sarah DessenFor a long time I always saw the row of Sarah Dessen books at the bookstore and because of the covers thought they looked like cheesy teenagery books. For a long time I really didn't like any Contemporary YA because I thought all of the books were cheesy and too teenagery. Earlier this year I finally started reading a lot of the genre and finally decided to force myself to read this book because I always heard SO much good stuff about it and Sarah Dessen in general. I'm so glad that I did too because I've read quite a few of her books now and I loved all of them.7. The Awakening by Kate ChopinI had to read this novel twice while I was in college. This and The Great Gatsby are definitely my two favorite classic literature novels!8. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins I was forced to read this book by John Green. Seriously. I was very against it because the tittle just made me cringe. Anna and the French Kiss? I mean now I know it is amazing but any time I've ever mentioned liking the book to any of my non YA obsessed friends they always roll their eyes at me and I know it's because of the tittle. But John Green mentioned it in his vlog more than once and talked about how good it was and that the author was a nerdfighter so I pretty much HAD to read it. I don't think I've ever squeeeeed so much while reading a book before. This book was beyond swoony and I seriously adored it and Lola and the Boy Next Door.9. Vampire Academy by Richelle MeadAfter Twilight and the it was pretty hard for me to consider reading another vampire book. Plus the synopsis didn't really sound very good to me. I bought it anyway and started reading it and lost interest somewhere within the first 100 pages so I stopped reading. Fast forward 8 months. After Adrian won the YA Crush Tourny (He beat WILL HERONDALE for gods sake!) I knew that I seriously HAD to finish reading this book! Once I finally got into it I blew through all six books and the first two of the Bloodlines series in about a week and a half and became ABSOLUTELY obsessed with Adrian Ivashkov (he only maybe beat Will Herondale in my book now). 10. The Fault in Our Stars by John GreenAt the time I didn't really read any contemporary YA (though this year I've really finally come to LOVE it). I saw the book EVERYWHERE in the months after it's release but cancer books weren't really my thing and I didn't know who John Green was at the time so I wasn't going to read it. However after hearing all of the people from tumblr just raving about the book I finally felt like I had to read it. It is literally my favorite book now and I've read it four time and will most likely continue to read it for the rest of my life. Also, John Green and his books introduced me to nerdfighteria and the vlogbrothers and I am forever grateful for that. So there it is! What books have you guys been forced to read and then ended up loving??

I still haven't read any Sarah Dessen and I felt the same way as you about contemporary YA, but lately I've been reading them (Anna and the French Kiss is one of my favorites) so I think I'll have to pick up one of hers. Great list! ~Pam

You should definitely try out some Sarah Dessen. Once I finally gave in and read one I went on a little spree and read like 5 or 6 of them this year. My favorites are definitely This Lullaby(Swoony) and Dreamland (Dark). And all of her books have little connections to one another which is really good when you notice it (aka a character or couple from one book will show up in another). Anyway, I definitely recommend!

Oooh, nice picks! You've listed some of my favorite books/series here. I actually read my first (and second) Dessen book a couple of months ago. THE MOON AND MORE was okay, but I really liked JUST LISTEN.

Ya I don't think I would love the series in the same way if I had started reading it after the movies had all come out so I am so glad that I was forced to read this because I think that I am a bigger fan because of it! Not that I think that people who read books after movies come out are lesser fans but in this case for me, reading it when I was so young and it wasn't the huge phenomenon that it came to be made me cherish it more!

I also had to be forced into Twilight, lol, its such a weird simple tale...It shouldn't be as good as it is! And then people who never got into the books want to know how anyone can love sparkly vampires, and the sad reality is, I don't know! I just, effing do. @Get Lost in Lit

The Fault in our Stars is such a great book and so was The Giver. Harry Potter will always be my favourite series, it was the first book series I became truly obsessed with, my parents had to take me to the midnight releases so I could get the books straight away! My TTT

About

25 year old from California who spends the majority of her time reading Young Adult and New Adult novels. Reading and writing are my passion and I just want to share that passion with others! This page will feature reviews and more of many Young Adult and New Adult novels